Blood and Lace, Hammer Killer vs Sultry Teenager

Vic Tayback!  Remember him from "Alice" and "Mel's Diner"?  Today we have the best film he ever made.  In fact, it will make you squirm in a very uncomfortable way.  These types of films I call "American Giallo" because of the taboo plots and nubile babes in much peril.  Today we look at 1971's "Blood and Lace," directed by Philip S. Gilbert.  Oh yes, you old movie fans will love seeing Gloria Grahame.

Edna (Louise Sherrill), the town whore, is bludgeoned to death with a hammer, as she is in bed with one of her tricks.  This leaves her angry daughter, Ellie (Melody Patterson) an orphan. Creepy social worker, Harold (Milton Selzer) places her in a weird orphanage run by Mrs. Deere (Grahame). Oh yes, Harold had a lot of extra-marital sex with Ellie's mom before the murder.  Mrs. Deere runs a tight ship and her wards are terrified of her.  She hates Ellie because her husband also used to have deviant sex with Edna.  Ellie?  She's all slut...like mother, like daughter.  Also angry is Jim (Len Lesser)...Grahame's henchman and maintenance guy.  We see right away the operation.  Children who run away are murdered and stored in a meat locker.  Uh oh...a police detective Calvin (Tayback) is working on the hammer murder of Edna.  He has developed an unnatural attraction for orphan Ellie.

Ellie is all slut, as I have said, and tries to seduce the only hunk orphan in the place.  One by one, orphans are horribly murdered. Calvin keeps checking on Ellie...he sees her as "breeding stock" and wants to marry her.  Creepy Jim wants to rape the snot out of Ellie.  Mrs. Deere wants to do all sorts of nasty things to her because her mom turned tricks with her dearly departed husband.  But wait!  Is Mrs. Deere's husband really gone?  Where is Ellie's dad?  Nope, not what you think...but something much more twisted.

Can't Calvin find some nice gal closer to his own age?  What are Mrs. Deere's plans for the pretty and slutty Ellie?  There will be catfights!  There will be murder!  There will be sex!  There will be hammer carnage! How long until Ellie gets curious and goes to explore the meat locker?  This is one that you can tell a very uncomfortable ending is looming.  18 year old Ellie is quite the seductress and we still hope she will escape the creeps and perverts in this plot.  For some nice Giallo-like cinema, see "Blood and Lace."